as a person that doesn't really fuck with shounen that much, when i started jjk, i thought it was peak. i'm not sure whether it was in time i lowkey hated bnha for having these few boring arcs or what, but genuinely, when i started reading this manga, i was sure it's gonna grow to be one of the most recognized shounen mangas in the whole industry, because not only the whole plot is something to really fuck with, the characters are really cool and colorful too. how stupid i was back then.

i still remember how many things about my approach changed. at first, i was sure that shibuya is like, the peak of jjk and it's the best arc, esp since another arc was the culling game one and it was genuinely so bad in so many ways i was speechless and unsure whether it's written by the same guy that wrote shibuya and hidden inventory arc. but with time, i feel like gege isn't inherently a bad author. his main issue is that he forced himself to write something he wasn't that interested in (the fact that his first draft was rejected and replaced by jjk and the fact that he decided that yuuji will be a main character, because he's more likeable and extroverted than megumi for example is quite telling no) and that he didn't really respect ppl that liked his franchise. and it shows in how abruptly he decided to finish his manga just like that. i feel like a 20 or maybe even 30 chapters more would help a lot to settle everything, but that too is telling us just how much he was forcing himself to create this.

the thing i probably dislike the most is his laziness and unwillingness to carry with what he decided to create. yknow what, till hidden inventory arc, i was sure that gege had something constructive and interesting to say. i actually liked how hidden inventory arc explores how neglectful jujutsu community is towards children that just started fighting curses, how they don't get any support, be it mental or just . some time to rest. how rotten jujutsu society is to just shift responsibility for every mission on a 16 year old boy who grew up being worked tirelessly all the time. to make another 16 year old boy went through so much agony caused by his ideals that it turned him into a homicidal sect leader.

i fear with geto's death, gege's creativity and just the whole idea for dwelling in something depper than just "fighting for the good cause" died too. we would call shibuya peak back then and yeah, shibuya is good, but it's good in those shounen criterias and it doesn't bring anything really to the table in terms of worldbuilding, it's just entertaining, it diverts your attention from the fact that gege gave up on having something to say, really. and the culling game arc is just the same, but it's not even half as fun and that's why so many ppl were upset with it, because it doesn't offer anything to cope with.

culling game was bad. the last arc was quite bad too. i feel like gege just lost his ability to write proper arcs. shibuya wasn't peak of the peak, but i think it was quite well-planned and i didn't feel like some character were missed from all the sorcerers that entered the veil, but it was also reasonable execution. culling game was full of new characters that didn't really get to see developments for their characters before gege executed them. could be good, but ended up being complicated and underwhelming. and the final arc.. it's honestly just so bad. i can't help, but want to compare it to final arc of bnha,,, yknow, i had my fair share of boring experiences with bnha and there are plenty of things i find uneccesary, but! in the face of final arc! i can excuse every boring arc, because i know those characters that are partaking the final arc. i feel like gege just wanted ot give everyone some sort of purpose in final battle, but he forgot how undeveloped huge part of his cast is and how anticlimactic throwing literally every living sorcerer in this battle would end up being just some linsey-woolsey bullshit. and with this out of the way, i can come to another point i hate in this franchise.

gege is so good at creating concepts for characters. like, genuinely, i loved yuki so much, utahime is rocking that huge scar on her face. but when gege has to do something more about the character, that's when it spirals down. till this point, i think the only characters that were good written in this show were getou, yuuji, sukuna and maybe megumi. these are the only characters i feel he explored beyond the surface level and spent time thinking about. and for yuuji, it's really just a point of being sukuna's vessel and main character. sukuna's writing is something i feel is one of the few things gege enjoyed during creating this manga. sukuna's character is just very consequent till the very end and his finale doesn't feel forced or missed at all.

i said it multiple times at this point, but gege is horrible at writing women. he either uses them as his plot devices, or just never explores them beyond the very surface surface level. the only exception can be maki, but it's still complicated to me as he basically just projected toji on her and went with it. nobara could be written very well too if he didn't just suspend her status for like, half of the manga. you can't really deny that it is a bit mysoginistic to potray women this way. esp since gege's concepts for the characters are really good. i'm still so salty about yuki.

all in all, this is something i have very hard time rating. i spent 2 years with this franchise, and for a big part, it was something i revolved around a lot. and maybe that's the reason i feel so upset with gege and i feel even more upset when i think how horikoshi is much better of a writer when i don't enjoy bnha even half as much as jjk. i feel like maybe gege shouldn't force this manga to be created. maybe he should've protected his original idea more, maybe he should've never taken on this project, knowing he will grow tired of it and he will just upset everyone. i'm actually a bit sad to be faced with this kind of forced ending right out of nowhere. gege akutami when i find you!!

tldr: i'm really unable to provide one. it's hard to shorten two years of reading manga to a tldr. all i can say is that, this is probably the first time i read something that was visibly hated by its author to a very core and how he struggled to finish this, rendering all those good things and points he made into a bittersweet feeling.